Sightless Eyes
by eagleye145
Summary: Who is this dark girl? She claims to be an experienced alchemist, but refuses to prove it...Who is she, and what is with that tatoo on her neck? Possible language later on...PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Understanding

Two figures walked down the beach, a tall, middle-aged woman, and a young, headstrong boy. They walked in silence for some time; then he spoke.

"Teacher?" he asked. "I understand alchemy's law of equivalent exchange, but I don't understand how it works." The boy looked up to his teacher, whose eyes were hidden by dark sunglasses.

Silence followed, but then she sighed. Taking the staff she had in her hand, she pointed out over the water.

"Look at the water Micah," she said. "What do you see?" "Waves," he replied. "Yes, waves. And what do you observe waves as?" she asked calmly.

Micah seemed slightly confused by the question, but he answered nonetheless.

"A ridge in the water, located between two depressions." This received a rare grin from his master. "A wave is a ridge, followed by a depression, then another ridge, and after that?"

"Another depression?"

"Yes," she replied. "The waves are a continuous cycle of ridges and depressions, much like alchemy."

"I still don't see it," he replied; looking out over the vast, blue water. Micah's teacher shook her head softly, then knelt down and drew a line in the sand with her finger.

"This is perfectly still water," she explained. "There is no movement. See this as an area unaffected by alchemy."

She placed her index fingers together in the sand just below the line. Moving from left to right, she traced her right index finger through the sand, making another line. She then created a valley and a hill running through and along the line.

"This is the water on a windy day. The straight line represents the water levels from the still day. Do you follow?"

"Yes Teacher," was the simple reply.

"Good. Now, when the day is windy, does the water stay at its natural level, and rise from there?"

"That's foolishness!" Micah stated. "The water cannot manifest itself out of nothing! If the water rises in one spot, it dips in another to even things out!"

The woman began to laugh. She pulled herself up, and faced the water. "Is alchemy really all that different?" she asked simple.

Micah looked puzzled, and stared intently at the images his teacher had made in the sand. "No!" he replied at last, almost in a laughing voice. "I guess it is the same. But…"

"Something else?"

"I have seen you create your weapons from sand, but there is no hole left afterwards."

"Ah, I was wondering when that would come up. When I create my weapons, the sand isn't taken from just a small surface area," she began.

Using her index fingers, she drew a transmutation circle in the sand, and extracted a pair of ornate sais.

"The sand," she continued, "comes from the entire beach – that is within the perimeter of my strength. If I were to use little effort, then the area from which I received the sand from will have a small pit in it, but if I put all of my strength into transmuting the sais, then who knows how far the sand could come from?"

Micah sat in the sand, silently trying to absorb the information he had just ascertained. When he looked up, he saw two figures running down the beach. When they noticed him watching, they waved, and then one dove behind a nearby dune. The second figure continued up the beach, this time walking at a much slower pace, and moving as silent as possible. Micah looked to his teacher, who stood at the waters edge and grinned a devilish grin. At last…it was time.


	2. Chapter 1 Reunion

Chapter 1 – Reunion

Micah watched as the sole figure continued up the beach, but he didn't say anything. He and the two others had been planning this for a long time, and now, the day had finally arrived.

His teacher stiffened; for a moment he thought for sure that she had heard the two others and had figured out the plot. If she did know, however, she made no move, but continued to look over the water.

The figure coming along the beach was in plain view now. He was in his middle twenties, with long blonde hair pulled back into a low ponytail. He wore a long red coat, and had a determined look on his face. He looked at Micah and winked, then returned hi gaze to his intended target – Micah's unsuspecting teacher.

Suddenly, he stopped, and signaled to his partner in the dunes. The second man came bounding out, and ran for the teacher. "Ellya," he thought, "this time, you're going down!" He drew a small dagger, and prepared to strike.

With the dagger just inches from her throat, Ellya spun around, and flipped the man over her shoulder, and onto a transmutation circle she had drawn in the sand.

"Hello Edward," she said calmly, before send Ed up on a pillar of sand, and flying into the water. When he came up, sputtering, he was neck deep in salty, ocean water. He looked to the beach to see Ellya grinning at him.

Micah and the other man began to slowly back away from the edge of the water.

"Where do you think you are going?"

Ed quickly swam out of the way, as his two accomplices fell into the water right beside him. When they came up, Ed said simply, "Al, you walk to loud."

"Brother," Al replied calmly, "you were the one that went running at her like a herd of elephants!"

Micah looked at the brothers, and then began to laugh. Ed and Al stared at the boy for a moment, and then they started to laugh as well.

Ellya stood calm and motionless on the beach until the three came in. "I told you, you would never succeed, but to drag my apprentice into this mess…you all have some explaining to do," she said, removing her sunglasses to reveal two milky, sightless eyes, that stared passed the three of them, and into the distance.


	3. Chapter 2 Explanation

Chapter 2 – Explanations

Four friends sat around a small table, in a beachfront cottage, sipping their cups of steaming lemon tea. The silence in the room was heavy; no one knew what to say. It had been over five years since the Elric brothers had last come to the cottage to visit, and there wasn't much to talk about.

Edward was now twenty-five years old, and Alphonse was twenty-four. They had restored themselves, and now that their mission was over, they had both retired from the military. Edward and Winry were engaged, and Alphonse was dating a botanist named Aurora. Al also had started an animal shelter, and Ed was helping him out.

Ed looked at Ellya. She was twenty-seven years old, and she was only alive today because he and Al had convinced her that life was worth living. That was ten years ago, but even today, she seemed to favor death to life. It was for this reason the Elric brothers had brought her Micah.

Micah was an orphan who Ed had found wandering around in an empty field one night, about two years back, delirious and half-dead from starvation. He had brought him home, and Winry had nurtured him back to health. Ed began to teach the ten-year-old about alchemy, but before they were a month into their training, The Elric brothers received a letter from one of Ellya's neighbors, stating that she had collapsed again, from a mysterious disease that was slowly killing her.

The Elrics knew the true nature of the disease, but at the request of Ellya a decade back, they did not say anything. That night, Ed, Al, Winry and Micah discussed the situation. Al suggested that someone go to stay with her. Unfortunately, Al had the shelter to run, Winry had her auto-mail clients, and Ed was training Micah.

Micah had heard about Ellya, and knew that she was an alchemist, so he offered to go, as an apprentice. This would let him take care of her, without her feeling dependant. Everyone liked the idea, so the next day, Ed and Micah got on a train for the 14-hour ride to Ellya's cottage.

Ellya was hesitant about accepting an apprentice, especially since her health was on a steady decline, and she didn't want the boy to be alone after she died. Ed assured her that this was temporary, and that should the need arise, he would come back to take Micah back home.

"He needs an alchemy teacher, and you are the best," he had said. It was another two days before Ellya finally accepted.

Now Micah was almost thirteen, and he was prolonging his training as much as possible, to give him an excuse to stay.

Everyone sat around the little table, still silent; a silence that no one wanted to break. Finally, someone spoke.

"Edward?" Ellya asked. "Would you like some milk for your tea?"

Ed's face paled, and he looked ready to leap across the table to strangle her. Ellya just grinned, sensing his anger; so did Al and Micah.

"Hey Al," Micah started, "how is that little kitten, Willow? You know, the one I found when we were out for a visit?"

Al laughed. "She is just fine. Actually, we found a home for her just recently."

"That's great!"

Al turned to Ellya. "How are you feeling?"

Ellya stiffened at the question, then relaxed, unsure of how to answer.

"Teacher?" Micah asked. "How did you become sick?"

Ed and Al both went ridged with the question, but Ellya smiled.

"Should we tell him?" she asked the Elric brothers.

"I suppose it's only fair that he knows the truth of the illness." Ed answered.

"Very well. It is a long story, one that started almost eleven years ago…"


	4. Chapter 3 A Home No More

Chapter 3 – A Home No More

"We have to what?" A fifteen-year-old Edward Elric screamed.

Colonel Mustang sat back in his chair, massaging his numb ears. "I said 'You will talk to Ellya'. Is that really such a hard concept to understand?"

"Mustang, you bastard, have you not heard the rumors about her? Do you _want_ us to die?"

"Fullmetal, you have been on much more dangerous missions then this. I am sending you two because maybe she will show pity to a couple of kids."

Edward's face went beet red, and Al had to hold him back from attacking the Colonel. He dragged his brother to the door, and the pair exited.

"Have fun! Oh, and Fullmetal? Try not to die!" Colonel Mustang called after them.

"This is crazy! I would rather take on Scar and half the military than try and talk to her!" Ed ranted as they made their way through a busy weekend market in Central. Al remained silent, and re-read the directions they had been given.

"It looks like her apartment is right over there," he said, pointing at a rundown looking building.

Ed looked at the building, an odd expression on his face. "You think that the daughter of a millionaire could afford better," he muttered to himself.

They entered the building, and took the stairs to the top floor. They walked down the hall, and stopped in front of the apartment that was written on the note.

"Here goes nothing," Ed mumbled, knocking on the door. The door wasn't locked, nor was it even shut properly, and it eerily creaked open. The brothers looked at each other, then cautiously entered.

The apartment was a mess. It looked as though there had been a fight, because there was a broken coffee table, and a bookcase in the corner had been knocked over. There was also blood, and lots of it.

Ed and Al looked around, then split up to search the rest of the residence.

A pair of eyes followed Al as he walked over to the bookcase. He lifted the bookcase up, to make sure there was no one trapped underneath, but only found a large pool of fresh blood. "If this is from one person," he thought, "there is no way they are still alive." He sighed sadly, and then stood the bookcase back up. A small "click" coming from the closet caught his attention. He cautiously walked over and opened the door. Nothing. As he looked inside the closet, Al heard the sound of a katana being silently drawn.

Ed walked to the back of the apartment, hoping to find Ellya, or whomever she had been fighting. He stepped into the kitchen, only to find it in the same condition as the den. Cupboard doors were broken, some on the floor, others hanging by a hinge to the cupboards. Plates, cups and utensils lay scattered across the floor, and there was some kind of melted material stuck to the oven coil. Ed walked over to inspect it; it was human skin!


	5. Chapter 4 An Enemy Within An Ally

Chapter 4 – An Enemy Within An Ally

Ed stared at the skin on the oven coil. "What the hell happened here?" he thought. He heard a small moan coming from a room off of the kitchen. He walked into the room –the bathroom – to find a teenage girl sitting in a pool of her own blood!

She had shoulder length black-brown hair, with bangs that were cut to her cheekbone, and styled so that they completely covered her right eye. She was wearing black track pants, and a black tank top, but her feet were bare. She had small cuts and scraps on her face and arms, but none deep enough to cause the extensive amount of blood lose that she had. The blood was coming from a pair of cuts running across the inside of her wrists.

"Shit," Ed said as he ran back to the kitchen and grabbed the tablecloth. "Al!" he yelled. "Al, I found her and she's hurt, get over here!"

As he ran back to the bathroom, he heard a large crash. Someone, other than the brothers, was looking for Ellya. Ed quickly ripped two strips from the tablecloth, and wrapped her wrists to stop the bleeding.

"Who are you?" came a whispered voice.

Ed looked up to see Ellya staring at him.

"Oh good," he said, standing up, "you're still alive."

She gave him an odd look, then said, "Hey small fry, duck."

Ed seethed. "Who are you calling sma—" Ed's sentence was cut off by Ellya. She swung her leg with a strength she should not have had in her state, hitting Ed in the back of the legs. As Ed fell, he heard a whistling sound from above him. As soon as he hit the floor, he spun around, jumping up and transmuting is auto-mail arm at the same time. He found himself standing face to face with a katana-wielding samurai!

Al ducked as a blade swung over his head. Al then hit his opponent in the chest with an open palm, sending him flying backwards. The samurai hit a wall, and slumped over, but he did not rise again.

"Did I kill him?" Al asked himself. He then noticed how the samurai was covered in cuts and burns, and that he was so close to death, that the simple blow Al had delivered was enough to kill him.

"What is going on here?"

Ed used his sword-arm to block a direct attack from his opponent.

"He's really desperate to attack like this," Ed thought as he tried to find an opening to counter-attack.

"There!"

Ed drove his sword-arm upwards, taking his opponent straight through his right arm, making it useless. Ed grinned, sure of his victory, but the samurai laughed, grabbing his sword with his left arm, and thrusting it towards Ed's stomach.


	6. Chapter 5 To Choose: Life Or Death

Chapter 5 – To Choose: Life Or Death

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Al came around the corner just in time to see the katana being driven towards his brother's stomach, Ed, unable to move fast enough, prepared for the blow, and Ellya – once again – swung her foot out.

She kicked Ed in the back of the knees, making him collapse. Because of this, the sword passed right by Ed's neck. Ed could feel the cold metal sliding along the side of his neck, making a small cut on the bottom edge of his jaw, but he was not hurt to badly.

Ellya, on the other hand, ended up with the samurai's katana in her left shoulder, pinning her to the wall she was sitting against.

There was no sound. Ellya made not a noise, but grabbed the katana with right hand, clutching the blade so tight that her hand began to bleed. She grinned at the samurai. "You go tell her that she has lost her prize," Ellya whispered before slipping into unconsciousness.

The samurai turned pale. He grabbed his sword and pulled as hard as he could, but it was no use. Ellya's hand was so tense; he couldn't make the sword budge. He stared at her a moment, and was about to draw a dagger to finish off Ed, when Al came up behind him, and hit him off the back of the head so hard, it knocked him out.

Ed looked at the samurai a moment, and then spoke. "Thanks Al," he said simple, while he returned his arm back to its normal state. Al said nothing, but walked over to Ellya. He took her hand, and gentle squeezed it. She relaxed, and he pulled the sword from the wall, but did not make an attempt to remove it from her shoulder.

"Brother," he said, picking the unconscious girl up, "we have to get her to the hospital right away. Are you well enough to walk yourself?"

"I'm fine, let's go."

As the brothers left the apartment, Ed took one last look at his ambidextrous opponent. Covering half of the man's face was a large coiling burn mark.

Ouch!


End file.
